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Cute chaotic robot ninja explody fun with Plain Sight

2010-03-17 17:05:44

Plain Sight is a game where you play as robot ninjas that use swords to attack other robot ninjas in order to steal their energy. The more robots you kill, the more energy you gain to upgrade your own robot's abilities and powers. And the only way you can upgrade your robot is by self-destruction.

Robot ninjas with swords and suicidal upgrades -- if that hasn't sold you yet, then nothing will. Hit the break for the lowdown on Plain Sight.

Plain Sight (PC)
Developer: Beatnik Games
Publisher: Beatnik Games
To be released: March 22, 2010
MSRP: $9.99

Plain Sight is one of those games that you have to play in order to really understand. Watching the above trailer will probably make you a little confused more than anything else. It seems like there's a lot going on as you play, but it really is simple once you grasp what you're supposed to be doing.

Plain Sight is a twitch-based multiplayer game where you'll be jumping all around a map, with the singular goal of destroying your enemies in order to become stronger than everyone else. The more enemies you kill, the more experience points you'll gain. At the same time, your robot gets brighter and bigger, thus making you an easier target. Once you've received a certain amount of EXP, you'll basically go Super Saiyan, and you'll be practically flying around the map taking out enemies out with ease. Also, you gain a flaming sword during this state. Yes, a flaming sword.

While it's fun terrorizing others as a giant robot with a flaming sword, you'll become the biggest target on the map, and if you're destroyed, all the experience points you had are lost; they go to whoever just killed you. So killing yourself is the best way to go in securing your experience points. Yes, you have to kill yourself. At any point after gaining EXP, you can hold down the E key to explode. Your suicidal explosions can destroy others if they're too close.

After killing yourself, you can jump to the upgrade screen, where you'll be able to improve your speed, defenses and attacks. Each perk costs a certain amount of EXP, and you'll be able to give yourself abilities such as shields, double jumps, a lock-on warning system, and a handful of other abilities. Unlocking all upgrades in a specific skill tree will unlock a mega perk.

There are 13 maps in all, with up to 20-player support. There are also five game modes: deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, turf war and my personal favorite, "Ninja! Ninja! Botzilla." In "Ninja! Ninja! Botzilla," one player controls a giant ninja robot that is wearing a Tyrannosaurus hat, while the rest of the ninjas on the map need to destroy the T-Rex bot.

Plain Sight will be out this coming Monday on the PC for $9.99. There will be dedicated servers, and Beatnik Games will be supporting the game throughout the year. Leaderboards, custom map support and more will all be coming down the line for the game.

Beatnik Games is also looking to bring Plain Sight to the PlayStation Network later this year. They're planning to add a single-player campaign and they're looking into having motion controller support for it as well.

NIER getting turned into a comic book

2010-03-17 16:05:31

What is it with all the videogame comic books lately? Gears of War, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Prototype, the list goes on and on. Now Square Enix has joined the party with NIER, yet another game to be turned into ink by the game-friendly chaps at DC Comics.

NIER is being turned into a three-issue backstory series that will delve deeper in the lives of Nier, Yonah, Kaine and Grimoire. It seems that the comics will be available in online format, as they are said to be available via Nier's official Web site, Xbox Live and PSN.

The comics will run between "now" and April 27, when the game itself launches.

LOS ANGELES (March 17, 2010) – Square Enix, Inc., the publisher of Square Enix® interactive entertainment products in North America, is partnering with DC Comics imprint Wildstorm to create a custom comic series that will explore the rich and mysterious back story of the upcoming Action-RPG NIER™. NIER, whose unique content, characters and hidden, twisting storyline has transfixed gamers and media alike for months, will be available for PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft at North American retail outlets on April 27, 2010.

“We are extremely excited to partner with the storytellers at DC Comics to further explore the complex tale of NIER; to explore its unusual characters; and, to introduce new fans to a storyline that will challenge what they know from beginning to end,” said John Yamamoto, president and chief executive officer of Square Enix, Inc. “NIER is a game that paints a sophisticated and graphic picture of the despair resulting from an apocalyptic plague and the triumph of a father’s will to protect his most prized possession, his daughter. DC Comics’ ability to create colorful and engaging comics will help deliver NIER’s unusual story to gamers and prepare them for what lies ahead in the game. By exploring the comics, gamers will understand the basis of Nier’s world before they even pick up a sword or cast a spell.”

The NIER comics will be available on the game’s official Web site at http://www.NIERGame.com, on Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and on PlayStation®Store for PlayStation3 between now and April 27. The comics will reveal tantalizing clues about key characters from the game, including the title-character Nier; his disease-stricken daughter, Yonah; a conflicted and foul-mouthed fighting companion, Kainé; and, the talking book with an attitude, Grimoire Weiss. In addition, the NIER comics will address questions that have yet to be answered, namely, what sequence of events led to the fall of humanity? How was the deadly disease, The Black Scrawl, introduced to the earth? And, where did the terrifying Shades come from and why do they torment the few remaining survivors?

There will be three NIER comics in all, each telling a unique, yet overlapping story. The comics are being created by some of DC Comics’ most renowned creators and illustrators, including Emmy-winning creator and executive producer Ricardo Sanchez; Pop Mhan, whose work has appeared on everything from Spider-Man and Ghost Rider at Marvel Comics to Batgirl and The Flash at DC Comics; Eddie Nuñez, who works on the soon-to-be released DC Universe MMO; and, Carlos D’Anda, who has worked on notable comic book titles such as Justice League of America, Deathblow, and Lego’s Bionice, was the lead Character Designer on the bestselling Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s Arkham Asylum and is the Lead concept Artist on the DC Universe MMO from Sony Online Entertainment.

NIER getting turned into a comic book

2010-03-17 16:05:29

The comics will run between "now" and April 27, when the game itself launches.

LOS ANGELES (March 17, 2010) – Square Enix, Inc., the publisher of Square Enix® interactive entertainment products in North America, is partnering with DC Comics imprint Wildstorm to create a custom comic series that will explore the rich and mysterious back story of the upcoming Action-RPG NIER™. NIER, whose unique content, characters and hidden, twisting storyline has transfixed gamers and media alike for months, will be available for PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft at North American retail outlets on April 27, 2010.

“We are extremely excited to partner with the storytellers at DC Comics to further explore the complex tale of NIER; to explore its unusual characters; and, to introduce new fans to a storyline that will challenge what they know from beginning to end,” said John Yamamoto, president and chief executive officer of Square Enix, Inc. “NIER is a game that paints a sophisticated and graphic picture of the despair resulting from an apocalyptic plague and the triumph of a father’s will to protect his most prized possession, his daughter. DC Comics’ ability to create colorful and engaging comics will help deliver NIER’s unusual story to gamers and prepare them for what lies ahead in the game. By exploring the comics, gamers will understand the basis of Nier’s world before they even pick up a sword or cast a spell.”

The NIER comics will be available on the game’s official Web site at http://www.NIERGame.com, on Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and on PlayStation®Store for PlayStation3 between now and April 27. The comics will reveal tantalizing clues about key characters from the game, including the title-character Nier; his disease-stricken daughter, Yonah; a conflicted and foul-mouthed fighting companion, Kainé; and, the talking book with an attitude, Grimoire Weiss. In addition, the NIER comics will address questions that have yet to be answered, namely, what sequence of events led to the fall of humanity? How was the deadly disease, The Black Scrawl, introduced to the earth? And, where did the terrifying Shades come from and why do they torment the few remaining survivors?

There will be three NIER comics in all, each telling a unique, yet overlapping story. The comics are being created by some of DC Comics’ most renowned creators and illustrators, including Emmy-winning creator and executive producer Ricardo Sanchez; Pop Mhan, whose work has appeared on everything from Spider-Man and Ghost Rider at Marvel Comics to Batgirl and The Flash at DC Comics; Eddie Nuñez, who works on the soon-to-be released DC Universe MMO; and, Carlos D’Anda, who has worked on notable comic book titles such as Justice League of America, Deathblow, and Lego’s Bionice, was the lead Character Designer on the bestselling Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s Arkham Asylum and is the Lead concept Artist on the DC Universe MMO from Sony Online Entertainment.

I Am Excite: Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey

2010-03-17 16:05:26

I'm excited for you, not me. I've already played Atlus' epic DS RPG Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey. I had a lot of really nice things to say about it. I think you will too. This is the deepest DS RPG I can think of, not to mention one of the most rewarding. I can't wait until you dig into it. I want to know what you think of it. Hit me up for demon codes!

I got my lovely retail boxed version early a few days ago, and have been looking at it longingly. Sexy art box, music CD. I'd love to start playing it again. I think I'll do that with the bigger screens of the DSi XL.

To tease you even more, Atlus has released a new game play trailer for Strange Journey. In it you'll see what really goes down in the dungeons and battles. You've only got a week before you see for yourself. I'm so excited for you!

Ten Minute Taste: 3D Dot Game Heroes

2010-03-17 15:05:44

Before I ditch the rest of my workday to do this (sorry Nick and Niero!) I wanted to share with you the first ten minutes of Atlus' upcoming PS3 release, 3D Dot Game Heroes.

Before you say it, I'll interject that there's really nothing in this ten minutes of play that I'd call a spoiler, so don't worry about this TMT ruining things for you. I skipped the character editor in the video, as Jim has that covered. Jumping right in was better for me, as I was too excited to make anything decent.

God, this game is beautiful. Screenshots and videos (I know, I'm sorry) are one thing, but seeing this in action, in high-definition, is another. Even more than that, it's a lot of fun. I've been playing it non-stop since it came in. You'll see, come May 11th.

Look for our preview very soon, and our review closer to release date.

How online dating affected the development of Hunted

2010-03-17 14:07:33

The experience of inXile's upcoming action/dungeon crawler Hunted is firmly rooted in a two-player cooperative experience. But with the lack of split-screen play, you'll be doing all of your cooperative hunting online. But what if you don't have a buddy to tag along? No worries, says inXile's president Matt Findley -- Hunted ships with some solid matchmaking features, thanks in part to the wonderful world of online dating sites.

When setting up a game, Hunted will look at the way you already play the game, taking into account things like the rate of enemies you kill versus time played, for instance. Additionally, you'll be presented with more than a handful of options to choose from. Do you want to play only as E'lara, the game's female ranged weapons expert? Or with another player at a more advanced skill level?

"Our crazy multiplayer programmer did all of this research on dating sites," Findley says, laughing. "We wanted to find a system that would allow players to find players to play the game like they want to play."

"You can change all of these settings," he continues, "plus the game studies the way you play the game as well, and tries to create a really good match... like you would on Match.com."

For more details on inXile's upcoming title, don't miss our romantic preview of Hunted. The game has a "TBA" release date for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

EKANS confirmed for 3D Dot Game Heroes!

2010-03-17 14:07:32

3D DOT GAME HEROES IS ABSOLUTE!

How online dating affected the development of Hunted

2010-03-17 14:07:32

"You can change all of these settings," he continues, "plus the game studies the way you play the game as well, and tries to create a really good match... like you would on Match.com."

For more details on inXile's upcoming title, don't miss our romantic preview of Hunted. The game has a "TBA" release date for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

How online dating affected the development of Hunted

2010-03-17 14:07:29

"You can change all of these settings," he continues, "plus the game studies the way you play the game as well, and tries to create a really good match... like you would on Match.com."

For more details on inXile's upcoming title, don't miss our romantic preview of Hunted. The game has a "TBA" release date for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Tales of Phantasia X bringing two classics to the PSP

2010-03-17 13:17:37

Namco Bandai has today revealed Tales of Phantasia X, bringing not one but two remakes to the PSP later this year. Not only will the very first Tales game be making a glorious return, its Game Boy Color counterpart is being dug out of the archives, too.

Tales of Phantasia Cross Edition will be the first game in the dual package, is an improved version of the Phantasia remake that hit the PSP in 2006. Not only does it include all of the 2006 version's tweaks, it includes a revised battles system and a smattering of new story elements.

Far more interesting is Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon, a game originally released exclusively in Japan for the Game Boy Color way back in 2000. Set 100 years after the original Phantasia, it includes random dungeons, and a costume system that lets characters change classes and skills on a whim. The remakes enhances the visuals in a completely reworked version of the original game.

Sounds great ... we just haven't had a confirmation for North America yet. Heh.

Two Tales of Phantasia Remakes Hitting PSP [1UP]

Tutorial Time: Learn to make games in WarioWare D.I.Y.

2010-03-17 13:17:35

I passed along a preview of upcoming Nintendo DS game WarioWare D.I.Y. earlier this month, and in it I mentioned that I'm very excited about the tools the game provides to make your own microgame. I'm sure the game itself will be great, but I'm really looking forward to making my own thing, with my own art and my own music.

If you're not up on how this all works, maybe these new tutorials from Nintendo will help. These two videos, released this morning, show you how the creation tools work. You'll see everything from animation to simple programming covered here. I'm hoping to see more on the music sequencer. When Nintendo gave me a taste of that last month, I was foaming at the mouth to get my hands on it.

The wait won't be too much longer, as WarioWare D.I.Y. will be released for the DS on March 28th.

Need for Speed World: Race and level up with others for free

2010-03-17 12:06:43

Electronic Arts has stated a preference to cut back on packaged retail games and transition into a publisher that provides service-based digital goods. When I brought up that point at a recent EA showcase to Marc De Vellis, a producer on Need for Speed World, he affirmed it, noting that the game is “huge for the company [EA], huge for Need for Speed.”

Need for Speed World is a PC-exclusive Need for Speed MMO that is in development at EA Black Box and EA Singapore. It’s a major part of EA’s push toward digital services; the game is a free-to-play, microtransaction-based MMO, which is a market that the publisher already took a stab at with 2009’s Battlefield Heroes. This is certainly the first attempt at an MMO in NFS history; in fact, De Vellis asserted that nobody has ever done a racing game like this.

Need for Speed World (PC)
Developer: EA Black Box / EA Singapore
Publisher: Electronic Arts
To be released: Summer 2010

The game world in Need for Speed World is already “the biggest Need for Speed arena ever,” and it’s only going to get bigger. Currently, the game offers more than 150 miles of roads to race on; longtime NFS fans will recognize parts of it as Rockport (from 2005’s Need for Speed: Carbon) and Palmont (the setting of 2006’s Need for Speed: Most Wanted). De Vellis told me that the developers will add new sections to the world after the game launches, and that they will likely be taken from other hit NFS games. Even as areas are bolted on to the existing framework, the world will remain seamless.

Expansion is the ethos behind Need for Speed World. Because EA is keeping the game exclusive to the PC, and because it is an MMO, the developers aren’t constrained to a traditional build-it-and-ship-it development cycle. “The game you see today will be completely different in three months, six months, nine months, twelve months, two years -- we’re going to be expanding this game for as long as we can,” said De Vellis. Along with new playable regions, plans are in place to “regularly” add cars, social features, and game modes. And the impetus behind new content will be the user base: fan feedback will be incorporated into development, so “if there’s huge outrage for a certain mode they want so bad, I can almost guarantee that we’ll build it,” promised De Vellis. “We’re here to make the fans happy.”

De Vellis described NFS World as “highly social.” The dev team has discussed the integration of platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, and in the game itself, usernames are displayed above players’ cars. This is why the game world is so massive -- at any one time, EA expects tens of thousands of users to be driving around and interacting with each other in the “Explore” mode. Right-clicking on another car will add that person to your friends list, and from there, you can invite them to cooperative or competitive races. Of course, since all those other drivers would be quite an impediment in a race, all events are instanced -- it’s just you, the other players’ (or AI) cars, and the world’s omnipresent traffic.

At launch, NFS World will offer three of the franchise’s hallmark modes: circuit races, point-to-point sprints, and cop pursuits. “This game is going [...] toward Need for Speed roots -- it’s classic Need for Speed. It’s all about racing, but with some cool, unique, modern strategy added to it,” De Vellis explained. That means that there won’t be any cutscenes starring Maggie Q. So where does the “modern strategy” come in? Power-ups. I saw two of these in action: Traffic Magnet, which sends traffic careening toward an opponent’s car, and Ram, which increases the mass of your car so as to reduce Traffic Magnet’s effectiveness (traffic will just bounce off of you).

Power-ups are part of the game’s economy. At the end of a race, you can use the “lucky draw” system to choose between in-game cash, “rep” points (i.e., your level), or power-ups. With cash, you can trick out your car; since you don’t have a human avatar in the game -- there’s never a time where you’re out of the car and on foot -- vehicle customization is the focus and the outlet for users’ individuality. NFS World features licensed cars; shortly after launch, there will be more than 100 to choose from.

Of course, if you don’t want to grind in order to earn this stuff, you can pay real Earth money and purchase power-ups or rent new cars instead of unlocking them. De Vellis stressed that while the developers are still tweaking the cost structure, they don’t want to put stuff behind a pay wall -- that is, you’ll hopefully be able to earn all the content in the game if you play long enough. “We don’t want a guy who has spent money to destroy people who level up through the game,” he said.

De Vellis also emphasized the scalability of NFS World, saying that the developers have it running on computers “from every min-spec laptop to high-end desktops.” The idea is to make the experience accessible to as many players as possible, because people have to be able to try it in order to start spending money in it. The game will run on all kinds of PC configurations, and it will offer many control methods, too. I beat De Vellis in a race for which we both used keyboards, but the game is being tuned to work with a variety of steering wheels as well, and it will ship with Xbox 360 controller support.

The Need for Speed series has built up an immense following over the years, and this is by far the most ambitious effort yet to capitalize on that fan base. “Freemium” MMOs are delicate operations, as EA found when it altered the pricing model of Battlefield Heroes and lost a chunk of the player base, so I’m very curious to find out if this game can become the cash cow that EA is hoping for. You can sign up to participate in the closed beta on the NFS World Web site, so give it a spin and see what you think. If you’re on the fence, check out the announcement trailer.

Kane & Lynch sequel get its dog day dated

2010-03-17 12:06:43

IO Interactive has announced the release date for Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days today, and that date is August 24 for North America and August 27 for PAL territories.

Along with the announcement, the official Web site has updated with a "Welcome to Shanghai" trailer. That's a still from the trailer up there. It's not safe for work, but I think given the gritty nature of Dog Days, that should go without saying.

I chatted up IO's Karsten Lund today about the game, so check back tomorrow as I dig a little deeper into the trailer, and the story that drives Dog Days.

Kane & Lynch sequel get its dog day dated

2010-03-17 12:06:42

IO Interactive has announced the release date for Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days today, and that date is August 24 for North America and August 27 for PAL territories.

I chatted up IO's Karsten Lund today about the game, so check back tomorrow as I dig a little deeper into the trailer, and the story that drives Dog Days.

Kane & Lynch sequel get its dog day dated

2010-03-17 12:06:38

IO Interactive has announced the release date for Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days today, and that date is August 24 for North America and August 27 for PAL territories.

I chatted up IO's Karsten Lund today about the game, so check back tomorrow as I dig a little deeper into the trailer, and the story that drives Dog Days.

GDC 10: Creating the cinematic experience of Uncharted 2

2010-03-17 11:06:02

Uncharted 2 delivers what its devs called an "active cinematic experience". "Active" represents player interaction, "cinematic" represents the "movie quality" they want their games to have, and "experience" represents the sum of all the game's parts.

At Naughty Dog, they're all about creating an awesome story. They shape their games around it, with their goal being to get the player emotionally invested. The purpose of their GDC talk was to give other developers a look at how such a game is created.

If that sounds interesting to you, hit the jump for a summary of the talk. Also, spoilers.

Even though Uncharted 2 is hinged on story, it and gameplay have to be considered at the same time when making a game of its ilk. This is because one can motivate the other; if story is shoehorned in later on in development, the game will suffer for it. Naughty Dog's narrative story team is also the gameplay team. This makes things a lot easier, because the two need to be able to constantly communicate and collaborate.

When coming up with a story, the first question to ask is, "What genre are we working on?" The one you choose will help to define your story, setting, characters, mechanics and pacing. When making the Uncharted games, they started by knowing they wanted to work with the pulp-action adventure genre.

"You have to understand the genre inside and out before making decisions about your story," they told the audience. Naughty Dog researched the genre they chose extensively, looking at movies like National Treasure, The Mummy, Die Hard, and the Indiana Jones series for inspiration.

Once you've got your genre, it will make it easier to ground your game. Grounding defines your limitations to help you better create a believable world with believable characters. For example, they would never have Nathan Drake use a jetpack to get to the top of a building. It just wouldn't match the character or the world.

An actual example of grounding was taken from one of the game's first missions: in it, Nathan and Flynn break into a museum and have to get past a lot of guards. Instead of giving the player many weapons to do the job, they only have a tranquilizer gun for this section. They did this because Nathan Drake's character would never kill innocents, and it was the only way to ensure that the player couldn't screw that up.

While story beats are represented by cutscenes, pacing is the gameplay sequences sandwiched between them. It is crucial in maintaining a player's interest throughout the course of an active cinematic experience.

After a cutscene, a player's interest tends to dip until they get to the next bit of story. But Naughty Dog wanted to make the in-between more like a rollercoaster than a steady trip. This is why Uncharted 2's gameplay almost constantly changes without any set order. As they very succinctly put it, "When you get bored, switch yo shit up."

If your cutscenes are too close, there's not enough gameplay, and if they're too far apart, there's not enough motivation to get the player to the next one. The guys pointed out that they had the latter problem in the part of the game where Schafer gets kidnapped. They tried to make the gameplay more varied, which led into their next topic, a design element they dubbed "the gap".

Basically, a gap is an unexpected element that comes in during gameplay, which changes your initial goal. The example they gave for this was the well-known Nepal section. The first goal is for Nathan and Chloe to get to the goal, but that alone is not a very interesting story.

Then comes the first gap: the attack helicopter.

This creates a new goal for the player, which is to avoid being shot. The further the player gets in this section, the more gaps are thrown at them, including enemies to get past and the collapsing building. Not only does this create a challenge for the player, but it creates a challenge for the character, story-wise. The fact that the player and Nathan Drake face these unexpected events together creates a stronger emotional bond between the two.

Next on their list of topics was contrast. They used this technique to make Uncharted 2's dramatic moments really stand out. In the museum, Drake gets to the treasure, which is an upbeat moment. But then Flynn takes the treasure for himself, creating downbeat moment. Them working together was contrasted by the betrayal.

Cutscenes are a huge part of the Uncharted 2 experience. The biggest point they stressed about them was that they should not be made to show big action sequences, but to show emotional moments. Without the input of the player, these scenes can show exactly the story the game wants to tell.

Because each one is emotionally important, the transition between gameplay and cutscenes have to be as smooth as possible. The guys pointed out that many developers do a poor job of transitioning by not preparing for potential continuity breaks; if, for example, your character is facing a different way than when the cutscene starts, it can really pull you out of the game. So what's a better way to make a transition? The way they did it in Uncharted 2, of course!

Most transitions in the game happen during forced player actions. For example, while at the wrecked train, the game forces the player to jump off of it at a certain point, at which point the cutscene begins. The truck scene mentioned earlier is another example, as the cutscene won't trigger until the player moves Nathan to a specific area of the map. It's much easier to make a smooth transition from something like that.

Next, they discussed scenes, which are the miniature stories they fit inside of the broader story arc. Unlike gaps, which do not constitute any emotional change, these always accompany a minor change in the protagonist. The example they gave us for this concept was Nathan's arrival to Nepal. The climax of the scene occurs when Nathan gets cornered by a truck, then Chloe comes in, blows it up, and the scene ends. Nathan's world is changed; Chloe is back in his life and he didn't get killed.

They stressed how important it is to have the tone of the gameplay match up with the tone of the narrative. At this point, they looked at the injured cameraman scene, where Nathan must carry the aforementioned cameraman while under fire. The in-game consequences for this are that he can't take cover or move as quickly as usual. Character states from previous cutscenes are also maintained through the gameplay sequence; in this case, Chloe is pissed off at Nathan, so she says abrasive things and stays ahead, while Elena says supportive things and stays back to cover him.

This led to a discussion about conflict. "Conflict is the only thing that moves your story forward," they said, moving on to the next topic. There are three levels of conflict: extra-personal, personal, and inner conflict. The cameraman scene was engaging because all three were used.

But they had a problem when trying to design Flynn's death. The relationship between he and Nathan was built up and torn down several times throughout the course of the story. There is even a point where you are forced to work with him again, as enemies. All of this conflict was manufactured to build up emotional hate toward Flynn's character, so that it could be resolved in a boss fight by the player. Unfortunately, time ran out and they couldn't quite line up character motivation, so they had to kill him in a cutscene instead. In the future, they will try to pinpoint problems like these earlier.

To round out their talk, they touched on a few smaller ways they made the world and characters of Uncharted 2 feel more alive. Dialogue was a huge one, of course, but another important one was giving them contextual movesets. A few examples they gave were Nathan putting his hands up when near fire, shivering in the cold, and stumbling when hurt. They also replaced inappropriate actions in certain places, like the Tibetian town, where the button that normally punches gives out handshakes.

In conclusion, they told their audience, "Stop thinking about stories being seperate from gameplay." They've got the right idea in thinking this way, as the process behind Uncharted 2 has made evident.

3D Dot Game Heroes: Today is a happy day

2010-03-17 10:05:58

Today is a happy day, my friends. I'm very behind on work, am coming down with something I caught from GDC, and am suffering from a lack of sleep this week, but it all seems fine today. What's so good about today? Today is the day I get my 3D Dot Game Heroes review code. My desk is already piled with review code, but I'm going to do that really dramatic thing where you slide everything off your desk and onto the floor today when 3D Dot Game Heroes comes. It comes, as review code typically does, very early, so that we may play the game fully for our review. I don't need two months, though. I'm going to do this TODAY. Or today and tomorrow, marathon style.

News? You're looking for news? There's no news here! Do you think I'm going to write up news when I could be preparing to play 3D Dot Game Heroes? I suppose I could guide you to the game's Facebook page. I suppose I could also guide you to my pal Spencer at Siliconera and his story on why 3D Dot Game Heroes is never coming to the Xbox 360. I'm not going to do any of that, though. I'm busy. Preparing.

3D Dot Game Heroes releases for the PS3 on May 11th for the retro price of $39.99.

Reggie says that Wii owners won't want PlayStation Move

2010-03-17 10:05:58

Nintendo of America's beefburger boss, Reggie Fils-Aime, has declared that if you have a Wii, you don't really have any motivation to drop another few hundred bucks on a PS3 with PlayStation Move. Doesn't sound like Nintendo's threatened at all by the Sony Wiimote.

"So I’m a consumer and I’m having a great experience with my Wii," declares Reggie. "And we know that’s the case – we look at the software that’s being purchased. Consumers love the Wii. What’s going to motivate them to spend minimally $300 for a new [PS3] system, plus minimally $100 for the Move motion bundle?

"So [as a consumer] now I’m into this for $400 and I still have to spend money on software. What’s going to motivate me to do that?"

I have to make Reggie right on this. I have a Wii. I bought a PS3 because it provided a different experience to the Wii. Why should I be excited to hear that Sony is now just duplicating the Wii's experience? Sony should never have tried to copy Nintendo. Rather, it should have put some real support behind the PlayStation Eye. That's at least a unique experience, and something Sony had in place long before Project Natal. Still, I should be used to Sony dropping the ball by now.

Nintendo's Reggie on Wii Core Games, Wii HD, Shortages & More [Industry Gamers]

GamePro set to reveal Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions

2010-03-17 10:05:58

We already had a hunch a new Spider-Man game was on its way, but here's your confirmation -- it's called Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.

The serious-sounding title was revealed on the cover for the upcoming issue of GamePro, and that's about all we've got. What I do know is that Activision is the publisher, and that WonderCon (which is set to take place in San Francisco in the beginning of April) sounds like a great place to officially reveal the game to the public.

Recently, Activision's Bobby Kotick made comments about the publisher's Spider-Man games, saying they "have sucked for the last five years." The quote came from an interview where Kotick was examining quality of their games, and making commitments to improve.

"We went away from what is Spider-Man," he said. "It's about web-slinging. If you don't do web-slinging, what is the fantasy of Spider-Man?"

Swinging in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions confirmed.

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions teased by GamePro [Joystiq] [Image]

Reggie says that Wii owners won't want PlayStation Move

2010-03-17 10:05:57

"So [as a consumer] now I’m into this for $400 and I still have to spend money on software. What’s going to motivate me to do that?"

Nintendo's Reggie on Wii Core Games, Wii HD, Shortages & More [Industry Gamers]